Løvseth lost the World Championship gold after the giant collapse:

It is a race we will talk about for a long time, the summary of the Ironman broadcast. While Norway was sleeping, an incredible drama unfolded at the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii. Several Norwegians were in the center. After about 34 kilometers of the marathon, Løvseth of America passed Taylor Knibb and took the lead. They had behind them 3.8 km of swimming and 180 km of cycling as well. The lead grew. Løvseth seemed to have full control on the way to a new world championship gold. But with only half a kilometer left, the collapse came. It said stop. – It's quite awful to watch, says Solveig Løvseth's former coach Arild Tveiten to NRK. Løvseth could barely stay on her feet and had to lie down several times. Words like "pointless" were used to describe the scenes by the commentators on the Ironman broadcast. – I have never seen a collapse like this, said one of them. Knibb passed Løvseth again and secured the gold with a time of eight hours, 36 minutes, and 29 seconds. A good while later, Løvseth was on her feet again and shuffled the last kilometer to the finish. She smiled and gave the audience "high fives" along the way, before raising her hands above her head as she passed the finish line. Last year she won in her very first participation in the Ironman World Championship, just months after she started competing over the full distance. – Got it so incredibly at the end Thus, Gustav Iden (30) was the only Norwegian medalist in Hawaii. He ran from ninth to second place in the final marathon after receiving a three-minute penalty for breaking the distance rules during the cycling. French Vincent Luis (37) took his first title in the Ironman World Championship. He won with a time of seven hours, 47 minutes, and 27 seconds. One minute and 35 seconds later, Iden crossed the finish line. – I'll try not to cry too much. It's been a roller coaster of a day. The air just left me when I got the penalty, he said in an interview with the organizer. He took a deep breath, but it wasn't just Løvseth who found the last kilometers difficult. – I thought I had him there, but I got it so incredibly at the end, says the 30-year-old from Ytre Arna to NRK. – It was insane. There were some nerve-wracking minutes on the sofa here, says the training partner and last year's world champion Casper Stornes to NRK. Iden received a three-minute penalty for "drafting" – breaking the distance rules during the cycling. It probably cost him the victory. The professionals must generally maintain at least a 20-meter distance, measured from front wheel to front wheel. When overtaking, they have 45 seconds to pass. – I didn't get behind in time, he explains about the penalty. It meant that he had to stop in a penalty tent and stand still for three minutes. He started the race in ninth place, eight minutes and 43 seconds behind Danish Magnus Ditlev – and three minutes and 13 seconds behind Luis. Stornes feared that the distance would be too great to fight for the gold. – It might be too much to ask him to make up for it in the race, at least to win. He could manage the fall, he said on the Ironman broadcast before the penalty was applied. – It will be tough for Gustav, but you never know! Then the race took a dramatic turn. Ditlev looked strong through almost 30 kilometers of the marathon, but he also got "the feeling." The Dane stopped several times to cool down and get some drinks. In the end, he just struggled to move forward. Shortly after, Kristian Blummenfelt (32) also had big problems. He had climbed to the medal position, but in a short time was passed by Gregory Barnaby, Iden, and Matthew Marquardt. Marquardt took the bronze, while Blummenfelt was ten to nineteen minutes and 39 seconds behind. – I was exhausted – I am extremely tired and disappointed. I felt fine until suddenly I was just cooked with 15–20 kilometers left. It was difficult to recover, says Blummenfelt to NRK. He ran for a long time with the eventual winner Luis. – When Vincent Luis got a small lead, I realized that "now it's breaking." I realized that the fall was going to happen. I was burnt out, he tells. Blummenfelt's preparation for the championship has been of the extreme sort: Jon Sæverås Breivold secured a strong 14th place, while Marius Bjerkeset was in 38th place. Norway came from a historic World Championship year. In Nice in September last year, Stornes won ahead of Iden and Blummenfelt. A month later, Løvseth ensured that Norway also won the women's world title. Blummenfelt has won the Ironman World Championship before, but never in Hawaii. Iden was the first Norwegian to win in Kona in 2022. The athletes went through 3.8 kilometers of swimming, 180 kilometers of cycling, and a marathon of 42.2 kilometers. In total, this is about 226 kilometers. The time they spend switching between disciplines also counts. Won overall Gustav Iden also secured the overall victory in the Ironman Pro Series. It gives him $200,000 in bonus, in addition to the prize money for the world championship silver. The World Championship in Hawaii was the final of the overall competition, where the athletes accumulate points throughout the season. The top five results count, and a maximum of three can be from the full distance. The time difference to the competitors also affects the score.